Activist in Niger with ties to junta tells the AP region needs to ‘accept new regime’ or risk war

NIAMEY – The most effective approach to keep away from war between mutinous soldiers that ousted the president in Niger and regional international locations threatening an invasion to reinstate him is to acknowledge the new regime, a rights defender with ties to the junta instructed The Associated Press.

In his first interview with Western media Friday, Insa Garba Saidou, an area activist who helps Niger’s new army rulers in its communications and says he’s in direct touch with them, stated there can be no discussion with regional international locations till they recognize the new head of state.

Nearly 3 weeks in the past mutinous squaddies led by way of the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, overthrew the West African nation’s democratically elected president, claiming they might do a greater activity of securing the country from rising jihadi violence related to al-Qaida and the Islamic State workforce. Tchiani was declared in charge of the country.

The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, has threatened to use army drive if President Mohamed Bazoum, who took place of work two years in the past, isn’t launched and reinstated. However, the junta has brushed aside its warnings and refused maximum makes an attempt at discussion.

“There is only one option, accepting the regime or war,” stated Saidou. “It is finished for Bazoum, you must forget about him. It is finished, it is a waste of time trying to restore him. It is not possible,” he stated.

On Thursday, ECOWAS stated it had directed the deployment of a “standby force” to repair democracy in Niger after its closing date Sunday to reinstate Bazoum expired. It’s unclear when, or the place the drive can be deployed, however analysts say it would come with up to 5,000 troops from international locations together with Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

While the bloc says it needs mediation to be successful, a couple of makes an attempt by way of ECOWAS, in addition to others, have yielded little.

Last week a proposed visit by way of ECOWAS, the United Nations and the African Union used to be rejected mentioning “evident reasons of security in this atmosphere of menace” against Niger. A day prior, top U.S. diplomat, Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, met some members of the junta but was unable to speak with Tchiani or see Bazoum. Representatives of the junta told her during the visit that Bazoum would be killed if ECOWAS invaded Niger, according to two Western military officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Many Western nations saw Niger as one of the last democratic countries in the Sahel region, the vast expanse south of the Sahara Desert, that they could partner with to beat back the growing jihadi threat. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into providing equipment and training for Niger’s military by specialized French and U.S. forces, all of which could now be used by the junta to tighten its grip on power.

The military regime is already entrenching itself, appointing a new government and stoking anti-French sentiment toward its former colonial ruler, to shore up its support.

On Friday, hundreds of people protested outside the French military base in the capital, Niamey, chanting “down with France” and waving Russian flags.

Mercenaries from the Russian-linked Wagner group, already operate in a handful of other African countries and are accused of committing human rights abuses. Earlier this month during a trip to neighboring Mali, which is also run by a military regime and cooperates with Wagner, the junta reportedly requested the mercenaries for assist.

“We don’t agree with France. We want France to leave our country and go to their country. This is Niger, not France,” said Souleymane Djibo a demonstrator.

Days after ECOWAS’ order for the standby force to deploy, it’s still unclear what that entails or if they’ll invade. The African Union Peace and Security Council could overrule the decision if it felt that wider peace and security on the continent was threatened by an intervention, say analysts. The African Union is expected to meet Monday to discuss Niger’s crisis.

Some Sahel experts say the insistence on force is a cover to spare ECOWAS from the embarrassment of having made a threat with no real capacity or notion of how to execute it. “The bloc is acting like a poker player who tried (to) bluff and, when called on it, raised the stakes to buy time. In both card games and in geopolitics, when one tries to bluff, one is rarely so lucky as to have an opponent fooled into folding,” stated Peter Pham, former U.S. particular envoy for West Africa’s Sahel region and a prominent fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Still, if preventing does ensue the maximum battle-experienced and best-equipped militaries in West Africa, both belong to Niger, or are sympathetic to it, equivalent to Mali and Burkina Faso. Both international locations have hostile the intervention and despatched delegations to Niger to speak about joint protection efforts.

Saidou, the activist who helps the junta, stated regardless of how ECOWAS plans to invade, be it by way of land thru neighboring Benin or Nigeria or by way of air, any assault on the palace will outcome in Bazoum’s loss of life. While he did not verify a planned plan to homicide the now-ousted president, he stated that if an invasion started squaddies would kill him, he stated. “There is no one among the soldiers still loyal to Bazoum.”

He dismissed reports that Bazoum’s conditions under house arrest in his presidential compound were dire and said he had access to medical care if needed and still had his phone, a sign that no one wanted to harm him. He did not say how he had knowledge of the president’s condition. Saidou said he was being kept for his own security and the only way for Bazoum to be released was for ECOWAS to accept that his time in office was finished.

Those close to the president, however, paint a much starker picture.

Since the July 26 coup, Bazoum’s been confined with his wife and son to the basement of his presidential compound, which is surrounded by guards and is now cut off from resupplies of food, electricity, water and cooking gas. Niger’s ambassador to the United States, Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, told the AP that the junta is trying to starve him to death.

On Friday, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said he was extremely concerned about Bazoum’s rapidly deteriorating condition, calling the family’s treatment “inhuman and degrading” and in violation of world human rights regulation.

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Associated Press reporter Jamey Keaton in Geneva, Switzerland contributed